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Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Surprise y'all, I was Snow White for Halloween! Didn't that blue velvet make a pretty addition to the dress? I think I made a fairly decent Snow. I am pale as heck, dark haired, and can fake red lips like a champ. It has been a good year for Snow White, homegirl had two movies come out this year and is a star in our favorite TV show.

I will probably take better photos of the costume later, since I am stranded in Dallas without my photographer/husband. But here's a quick run down of the sewing deets: I used this Simplicity pattern and only altered it slightly. It was a pretty perfect Snow White pattern as it was and I'm really happy with my version. I lowered the neckline a tad and ditched the suggestions of using cotton/broadcloth for everything. I used a stretch velvet for the bodice and satin for the sleeves. Had to make it fancy! Although that velvet was a bee-otch to sew. It slid and stretched everywhere and it was terrible. I also ditched the cape because, um, no. I'm not trying to wear a cape.

I worked up at the store in Dallas today and in true Coffee Bean style (almost) everyone dressed up! It was a blast! I had so much fun seeing what everyone was dressed up as (and getting text updates from my store in Austin!). Halloween is the best.

Recognize the girl in that big ol' photo on the wall above my head?

Tomorrow is my last day with the Dallas team and although I am very ready to get home to my husband, my home, and my store, I am sad to be leaving! This is a great group and they have been so welcoming. Coffee Bean seriously knows how to pick them, everyone was so nice!

Me and the extremely awesome Darrius, who is just slightly taller than me. He gave me the best compliment on my costume, he said, "if anyone could have just popped out of that cartoon, it would be you. You are Snow White." So sweet! The second best compliment came from a toddler who screamed from the back seat of a car in drive thru, "THAT'S MY FAVORITE PRINCESS!".

So a huuuuge thanks to the wonderful Dallas team for being so awesome, fun, and making me feel so at home. You guys are going to rock the DFW coffee world. And thanks for making one of my favorite days of the year so much fun y'all! Come visit me in Austin!!

Happy Halloween internet! Unfortunately I am still in the far off land of Dallas for work. There will, of course, be pictures of my costume soon, but until then, here is my sweet husband's. We snapped this pictures last week when he was dressed up for a costume contest at work. He's sporting it today too of course!

Yes, he is Ace Ventura. And a damn good one I think. This boy has loved the Ace Ventura movies since they came out. Brendon knows pretty much every line and does a real good Jim Carrey. When we first started dating I declared that from what I could remember from my young years the movies were stupid and I was not a fan. And I refused to watch them. But of course, somehow I was coerced into watching them sometime in the last couple years by you know who. Not Voldemort, but my husband. I think I lost a bet or something. Regardless, turns out the movies are hilarious and I beg Brendon to say "liiiike a glove!" all the time. So when Brendon told me he wanted to be Ace Ventura for Halloween, I was on board.

The costume was super easy. He had pretty much everything but the pants, boots, and shades. I whipped up the pants one night from some random pattern I had laying around and we found those crazy boots for a steal at our favorite thrift store. He picked up the shades one day at work for a few bucks. The whole costume probably cost $10-$20.

An important element of course, was the hair. He's been growing it out for a couple of months. We (I) gelled and hair sprayed the crap out of it, and I think it looks pretty good! Unfortunately you can't see a whole lot of it because his hair is naturally black as night. Just take my word for it, it's legit.

ALLLLRIGHTY THEN, happy Halloween, y'all! I hope you're dressed up and having a grand old time doing so! I'm very sad that I am not down in Austin celebrating with my husband and friends, but I am also very excited to be in Dallas.

And because I miss them dearly, here are our cats, confused as to why we would ever want to be outside instead of indoors with them:

Saturday, October 27, 2012

Sorry for my absence! I swear I have not fallen off the face of the earth. I am in Dallas for a week, on my first ever "business trip"! Fun stuff. While not working, I have been enjoying the wonderful company of my favorite Dallas residents, the Chasaks! And I'm getting spoiled since I just saw Kristy and Kennedy a couple weeks ago. This needs to continue to occur frequently!

They've been sooooo nice and have been entertaining me in my off time for the past couple days. Today I accompanied (and documented) them while they ran a 5k at the Hexter Howl Halloween festival. It was a lot of fun, although very cold! I also got to hang out with Kristy's dad Greg and step momma Roxanne, who I think of as family as well and always love to see!

It was just a little chilly.

Congrats Kristy, you are the next "ridiculously photogenic running girl", so not fair. I'm sure you'll have a meme soon.

Kennedy was not sure about that crazy owl.

Ryan was 2nd in his age group and Kristy was 3rd in hers, while pushing a stroller! I was originally going to try to run it with them but I assumed I would be working during the morning so I left my running gear at home. Whomp, whomp bad idea. But I made an excellent spectator and even walked the kids 1k and received a ribbon. Booya.

Kennedy was hilarious, she was wrapped up like a burrito to stay warm but she really wanted access to her chocolate croissant. So Kristy propped it up by her face. She was a happy camper, but I don't think she ate any. She just wanted to smell it.

After the 5k we headed over to the little festival they were holding at the local school and Kennedy competed in a costume contest! She won it last year, so she was defending her title. She was an extra cute little sailor, and even had her granddaddy's dog tags and a couple of his medals on.

Alas, the baby in the dalmatian costume stole first (cheaters, babies always win) but she rocked the pants off of 2nd place! Which is saying something because that is an extraordinarily cute group of kids.

It was a super fun morning, even if it was a little chilly, and it had me ready to go run! Brendon and I are running an obstacle course again in November, and I need to whoop my butt into shape a little before then. Also, we are probably going to freeze to death.

I am so glad to have so much time with these wonderful people, but I am a little home (husband) sick. We haven't been apart for this long since like... 5+ years ago. It's no bueno being away from Brendon, but I've been keeping busy and time is flying. I've had tons of fun so far and I'm excited to see what the rest of the week brings!

Friday, October 19, 2012

Y'all. These pumpkin cinnamon rolls. They were real good. Thursday my friend and I had a baking/hang out in the beautiful weather day and busted these bad boys out. We used this recipe from Smitten Kitchen, which is pretty infallible when it comes to recipes. Have you visited this blog full of heavenly goodness yet? Oh you haven't? Prepare for your world to be rocked.

But, before we get into the nitty gritty deliciousness, first you must meet Tyler.

Yes, those are glasses of milk. Things you should know about Tyler: 1. He is hilarious, awesome, and probably cooler than you are because he's lived in France a whole bunch. Most recently in a provincial village (literally), a la Beauty and the Beast, on the coast of France. Not fair, I know, I have life envy. 2. He loves cooking (and consuming) good food just as much as I do. We're both big fans of butter, so OBVIOUSLY he's a genius in the kitchen like yours truly. Ahem. 3. He will whoop your butt in bananagrams. For real.

Here's the photographic rundown of our adventure in baking:

While waiting on the dough to rise we sat outside and Tyler beat me in bananagrams. And yes, that is "porn" in my words. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

Biggest cinnamon roll-log ever. Quote of the day, "these are going to be some tight buns!".

While Tyler took a Jackson Pollock approach to icing his rolls (first picture), I just kind of smeared icing everywhere. I had icing all over me. Because I'm five years old like that.

These were seriously delicious y'all. Go make them. Best cinnamon rolls I've ever had, FOSHO. The only downside was that they weren't as pumpkin-y as we thought they'd be. We debated on whether adding more pumpkin to the dough would change the consistency and also pondered adding pumpkin to the icing (which is phenomenal as is and totally worth stealing from this recipe even if you hate cinnamon buns, although I'm not sure we can be friends if you do). Maybe next time. Regardless they were amazing and they lasted a little over 24 hours before they were demolished. Brendon loved them. They will be made again, probably sooner than later.

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

The Halloween costume is finished! Can't wait to share it with everyone! Next up on the sewing agenda is a new dirndl. Wurstfest is quickly approaching!

One of the best parts about starting a new sewing project is picking
out your materials. It always takes me forever because there are a
gazillion color/texture/fabric options and I can never chose. For instance, I had in
mind navy blue fabric for the dirndl and red for the apron as I went into
the fabric store today. Obviously I changed my mind.

I found this leafy grey cotton and dropped the navy I had in my arms at once. I immediately thought of yellow for the apron, and found this really great sheer flower embroidered yellow fabric on clearance. There isn't quite enough (always the challenge with clearance fabric), but I'm going to try to make it work. And then as I was walking to the door I found some
adorable salmon rickrack and decided to throw it into the mix as
a trim. These colors are much more springy than fall, but oh well. Navy blue is my favorite color to wear and I think I sport it a little too often. It's good to mix it up.

The dress pattern I'm using is different from the traditional pattern I used last year. In fact it's not even a dirndl pattern. But it's close enough and I plan on altering it quite a bit to suit my Bavarian needs. And I remember struggling quite a bit through that last dirndl pattern, and it's half German instructions, and I'm not looking to relive all that. Happy sewing!

Monday, October 15, 2012

This past week we had a visit from our favorite North Texans, Kristy and Kennedy! They spent a couple days with us, chillin', eatin', and pretending that we don't live a few hundred miles apart. Mostly we hung around South Austin and stayed away from the craziness of the ACL nonsense, but on Friday we ventured out to the Oasis on Lake Travis. I'd been meaning to go since we moved here, but never made it out. So we went! The restaurant is meh (as I had heard) but the view is really great. Ironically though, it's just a few minutes from where I work. Who knew?

It's such a shame that these lovely people live so far away. I love hanging out with Kristy, it's so easy and relaxing. It doesn't matter how long it's been since we've seen each other, we pick it up like we hang out on the daily. And Kennedy is a blast! That little lady is SO smart. And probably the cutest two year old ever. You should see her dance to Gangnam Style, it's epic. It's so much fun watching her grow! She sprouted like a weed and grew a head of curls since the last time we saw her.

Monday, October 8, 2012

Sweet little Greg, you are the cutest thing in the world sometimes. Thank goodness, because you are also the most annoying thing in the world sometimes.

Halloween is quickly coming up! And you know what that means, time to make a costume! As it was last year, it's a secret until the day of Halloween. But because I'm terrible at keeping secrets, Greg and I are giving you one little hint, this beautiful blue velvet. It's a smallish part of my costume, but also my favorite part. Last year I think I gave my costume away a little too easily, so you only get a little hint this year. If you guess correctly, I will make (and ship, for all you far away friends) you a little sewing prize!

Isn't it beautiful? I love love love the color. I've never made anything with velvet, so wish me luck! If I mess it up too badly, I guess I'll just donate it to Greg to sleep on.